They apprised the minister of various problems of newspaper industry and said duty on newsprint and VAT should be reduced and government advertisement rate raised to Tk 500 per column inch for balanced development of the industry.

They called for cancellation of the Statutory Regulatory Order and ensuring that the proposed wage board award be implemented in at least 95 per cent newspapers.

They suggested that a monitoring cell should monitor the implementation process of the wage board award.

The information minister gave the BSP and NOAB leaders a patient hearing and said the government is very keen to see that the country's newspaper industry grows in a free and fair atmosphere.

The government believes in free flow of information and its healthy development, he said.

NOAB President and Editor of the Independent Mahbubul Alam, BSP President and Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Ittefaq Mainul Hosein, Editor of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam, President of the Jatiya Press Club and Editor of the News Today Reazuddin Ahmed and Editor of the Prothom Alo Motiur Rahman, Information Secretary Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman and Principal Information Officer Abu Jafar Md Iqbal were also present on the occasion.